Best Movies vs. Favorite Movies

The two are different, at least for me. Some movies I consider the best sometimes are not the ones I consider my favorites, and vice versa. You can check My Favorite Films page, and you will find that not all (or even none) of them achieved my 5-star rating. I am gonna share my opinion about this topic—again, just based on my opinion—and, of course, you’re free to share your opinion too in the comment box.

Best Movies

First, let me define what best movies and favorite movies are. Best movies are basically a superlative form of good movies. So, a film can’t be the best if it isn’t even a good one. Good movies, in the other hand, are those which cinematically qualified to amuse me as a viewer. And when I said “amuse”, I also meant that there are several different ways a film can do to make me feel amused. Some of them makes me so terrified that I can’t even sleep well at night, some other breaks me down into tears, some other throws me in the warm world of love, and so on. But this looks so varied, eh? Okay, I’ll describe it briefly: good movies for me are the ones capable to make me a human. They know that I had feelings and logic in my mind, so they treat me well and then use my “human weaknesses” to entertain me.

I am the kind of viewers who don’t like to be fooled. I think we all are. I don’t like watching films that make me feel stupid. I always expect that I can learn something new from the film I’m gonna watch, so it has to be smarter than me. If it’s a horror flick, it has to show what we human are all terrified of—and thus, it has to make us terrified. If it’s a drama, it has to show a different perspective of certain topic, or a new experience from a person from far-far side of the world, or whatever. If it’s a comedy, it has to make me laugh not merely by showing stupid things. I mean, the film has to be a step ahead from me. The smarter it is, the better. Then, what make these good movies best movies are the director, writer, and other technical crews. Every movie has a sin, and best movies are the ones that are able to hide its sins as many as it can.

Favorite Movies

So, what are favorite movies? I myself consider something my favorite only if I love it. And I can’t easily love something from the first sight. I can’t decide if the film I just watched a minute ago is my favorite; it takes time. I should see if it is memorable enough to call me to watch it again next time. Yep, rewatchability is one factor. It has to be an easy yet rich entertainment you can use to kill your time. It’s the kind of movies you can always see whenever you want in a positive way. Therefore, of course, favorite movies are always good movies. You can’t love something not good, can you?

This is the case. We are all agree that “The Godfather” is one of the best films ever made. I agree with that. But I don’t think that it’s my favorite because, well, I guess it’s just way too heavy to be enjoyed in your spare time. I mean, when I can’t sleep at night, I don’t think I can simply watch it to kill the night, right? It’s a very rich film, and I don’t think I can use it when my brain has already been full. That’s why I don’t consider it my favorite film although I undoubtedly admit that it’s one of the best films I have ever seen.

In the other hand, I consider “A Serious Man” my favorite. Why? Because it’s light. Well, it didn’t gain a massive acclaim—some even consider it overrated (it is obviously different from “The Godfather” which receives worldwide acclaims). Some viewers don’t even understand what this film really is. But, since I fortunately understand it, I find that it has good values in it, and it is easy. I have been rewatching it for like ten times from the first time I watched it (which is, two months ago) and I can absorb the entertainment side of it. It inspires you, it teaches you a lesson, but it doesn’t make you frowned thinking.

Best Movies vs. Favorite Movies: Who Win?

So, which one do you prefer: best films or favorite films? I prefer the second. I like being entertained. My definition of favorite films has already covered some parts of the definition of “best films”. But, best films are also preferable because I don’t want to spend my time watching craps, right? Then, back to the intention of why I am watching a film: did I spend a significant amount of effort to watch it (like hunting for the rare DVD) or am I just gonna find something to watch in my spare time (like when I’m alone at home)? If I am asking the first question, I’ll look after best films, but if I’m asking the second one, I’ll look after my favorite films.

And that is my opinion. How about you guys? Are best movies and favorite movies different for you? Share your opinion in the comment box.

12 comments:

I think best movie is harder to determine. Unlike favorite film where your personal taste does all the judging, best film quality is harder to quantify. I think because a good film does not have an actual standardization... and even then, your personal taste will still determine your views on certain films. I dunno.. i still can not grasp what make a film considered best (that's why any awards usually baffled me)

Yeah, I think it takes a universal acclaim to judge if a film considered a good film or not while individual's judgment tends to consider a film a favorite one. And I don't even understand what I was blabbering about in this post, LOL.

This is an interesting topic! I juggled the same thing everytime I want to rank favorite/best movies every year. But in the end, I pick favorite, because they just stay in mind and impressed me more. Movies are personal, just like that. So sometimes movies with poor support but good story/particular scene/good performance can end up stick in our mind and therefore can be one of our favorites. While other people can have opposite opinion.

Agree, movies are personal. And everytime I write a movie review, I still consider it more from the 'favorite' perspective rather than 'best' perspective--which is not really good, I think. I think it takes deeper knowledge and experience to have this duality merged into one objective verdict.

I think it's a matter of perspective. Like previously mentioned above, movies are personal. Therefore, the word "Best" is relative. What's 'Best' for me, might not be the case for you. But I don't think they (best and favorite) have that much of a different meaning.

From your example, I would call The Godfather as a well-executed, well directed, etc etc kind of film. And A Serious Man as one of the best (or one of my favorite) films of all time.

I don't know if you'll get my point or not haha but I hope you will :)

I prefer favorite term rather than best movie since well, I'm more into making list of my fave films of the year rather than best movies bcos as Karamel Kinema and Andina's said, favorite term is based on our own judgment, it didn't need some variables factors. No matter how best or bad those film based on their quality when we said it's our favorite, pop! Favorite movie didn't need to be the best one I think :D

Wow... I have to think about that one. There are movies I've seen which I know are perfect, but I just don't 'love' them (such as The Godfather). Then there are movies that aren't 100% perfect, but they make me feel such profound emotions (such as Braveheart). In that sense, if I had to pick which film is better, I'd go with the one that elicits an emotional reaction out of me. A movie's job (in my opinion) is to provide you with a great experience. Even though a film may technically be perfect, I think that a person should follow their heart when determining what rating they'll give a film.

Yeah. I don't know if those critics did follow their heart to in determining the rating they give to certain films because I just think that it might sound so subjective (well, I'm not sure if reviews have to be objective or if they can be made objectively) but I agree that true entertainment is the one that provides us with great experience.